NEWTOWN, CT, U.S.A., April 2, 2014: Plenary speeches by three industry leaders at the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) ANTEC® 2014 will address new technical and business developments with great potential for benefiting plastics, SPE announced today.

ANTEC 2014 will take place April 28-30, 2014 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel in Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A. Plenary sessions will take place on each day of the conference:

● Monday April 28, 11:15 am -12:30 pm: Challenges in Nanocomposites: Mixing Obstacles and Opportunities, by Professor Ica Manas-Zloczower. Nanofillers have attracted much attention due to their remarkable mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties, which make them ideal fillers for advanced polymer composites. Evaluating methods to characterize the state of filler dispersion at different length scales enables us to look at the potential of applying mixing fundamentals to tailor properties in advanced materials. Professor Manas-Zloczower is the Thomas W. and Nancy P. Seitz Professor of Advanced Materials and Energy in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University.

● Tuesday April 29, 11:15 am -12:15 pm: Sustainability and Plastics: Innovation from Dow Performance Plastics Drives Sustainable Solutions, by Dr. Robert Maughon. Polyolefins are used in a wide array of products and likely will remain the polymers of choice for many applications. The sustainability of plastics is a growing area of discussion, requiring an understanding of the life cycle and integrating knowledge of production, processing, use, and end-of-life. Successful developments in process and product development in The Dow Chemical Company’s Performance Plastics Division will be highlighted. Dr. Maughon is a Global R&D Director at The Dow Chemical Company.

Speaker biographies are posted in the ANTEC 2014 Advance Program at www.antec.ws. ANTEC registration information is also available at www.antec.ws. Prospective attendees can also contact SPE by email at [email protected], telephone at 1-203-740-5403, and fax at 1-203-775-8490.